Tour Down Under: Philipsen wins stage 5 after Ewan relegated

Second-placed finisher Jasper Philipsen (UAE Team Emirates) was sensationally promoted to first place at the conclusion of stage 5 at the Tour Down Under in Strathalbyn on Saturday after Lotto Soudal's Caleb Ewan – who was first across the finish line – was relegated.

The race jury's ruling meant that Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) was moved up to runner-up on the stage, with Jumbo-Visma's Danny van Poppel being handed third place.

Overnight race leader Patrick Bevin (CCC Team) crashed heavily with 10km of the stage remaining, but he battled back bravely to hold onto his race lead by seven seconds from Mitchelton-Scott's Daryl Impey with just one stage to go on Sunday.

The New Zealander's injuries, however, had to be assessed at hospital to see whether he'd be capable of defending his ochre leader's jersey on stage 6, and whether he'd even be able to start the stage. But following medical examinations that revealed nothing was broken – and subject to a concussion test on Sunday morning – by Saturday evening Bevin was hoping that he'd be able to continue in the race.

Calm before the storm

The day had begun in significantly calmer fashion when UniSA-Australia duo Ayden Toovey and Jason Lea escaped from the gun on the hunt for king-of-the-mountain points to stretch Lea's lead in the competition, with the peloton content to let them go.

The pair were joined by AG2R La Mondiale's Clement Chevrier, and while Toovey dropped back to the bunch before the day's climb, the Frenchman allowed the Australian to take the maximum points available, but their day out front was soon over as the bunch readied themselves for the first intermediate sprint with 50km of the day's 149.5km distance covered.

Mitchelton-Scott leading it out for defending champion Daryl Impey as though it was the finish of the stage. Alex Edmondson was the Australian team's last man before Impey took over, and the youngster tried to keep it going in order to take the points for second place, too.

Edmondson slipped away, however, with Bevin coming through to take second place behind Impey, with Bevin's CCC teammate Fran Ventoso looking like he had to brake at the last second to ensure that Bevin, and not him, got the two bonus seconds.

It was another second chipped off Bevin's race lead by Impey to make it six seconds – while the other contenders dropped even further behind – but their positions were reversed 25km later when Bevin took the three-second time bonus for winning the second intermediate sprint with Impey taking the two seconds for second place.

Almost immediately, Groupama-FDJ's Matthieu Ladagnous launched an attack – just as he had on stage 2 – and was joined by Toovey once more, having seemingly recovered from his earlier breakaway effort.

The two built up a lead approaching four minutes, but it was all over once more with 35km to race once the sprinters' teams began to come to the front in readiness for the finish.

Soon after the catch, and with crosswinds to contend with at various points on the stage, Team Jumbo-Visma – boasting both George Bennett for the GC and Danny van Poppel for bunch sprints – decided to try to split the race up, and although the move shed a few riders, it wasn't enough to shake the other GC contenders' teams.

Crash brings down Bevin

With 10km to go, Bevin went down hard in a crash around halfway down the bunch. Clearly injured, the New Zealander nevertheless remounted and began the long chase back to the bunch, which initially appeared content to wait for the race leader.

However, with the finish fast approaching, there was only so long that the sprinters' teams were prepared to call a truce, although Bevin nevertheless managed to get back on terms thanks to the combination of both his CCC teammates and a team car.

While Deceuninck-QuickStep led the race into the final few hundred metres in an attempt to get Elia Viviani his second stage win at this year's race, with Sagan on the Italian champion's wheel, the true fight was happening just behind them, with Ewan and Philipsen clashing, and Ewan getting the upper hand thanks to using his head.

The Australian then pulled away off Sagan's wheel with an impressive burst of speed, with Philipsen following in turn to take second place on the line.

Ewan's joy, however, was short-lived, with Philiposen handed the victory following deliberation by the race judges.

"This is very disappointing," Ewan said in a press release. "I was so looking forward to my first official victory for Lotto Soudal. After crossing the line, it felt like a massive relief, but the next moment all of that joy disappeared when I heard that I had been relegated.

"During the final kilometres, I was on Peter Sagan's wheel, but Philipsen tried to take that spot as he tried to push me out of Sagan's wheel," he continued. "You are not allowed to take your hands off the handlebars in the sprint, so I used my head to avoid ending up in the barriers. Head movements are of course clearly visible on a helicopter shot, but a lot of former sprinters will confirm that my manoeuvre was not irregular.

"Of course, I have to accept the decision taken by the jury, but I don't agree with it."

The race continues with its sixth and final stage on Sunday with a 151.5km stage that includes two climbs of Willunga Hill, with the race finishing at the top after the second ascent.

With two intermediate sprints again offering bonus seconds of three, two and one seconds, and 10, six and four seconds available for the first three finishers of the stage, the race is set to go right down to the wire – whether race leader Bevin is able to start stage 6 or not.

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